OpenPress

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Getting started

Five steps from empty directory to deployed document.

Prerequisites. Node.js 20+. Chromium and wrangler for PDF / Cloudflare deploy (only when needed).

1. Scaffold

Create workspace
npx @open-press/cli init my-paper \
  --title "Transport models in dense networks"

cd my-paper

Starter content comes from domain skills, not bundled packs. After init, install or invoke a skill that knows your document type (e.g. academic-paper or an external social-card skill) and let the agent populate press/. See Skills.

2. Edit content

Everything you write lives under press/. Runtime internals live in node_modules/@open-press/ after install; treat those packages as read-only.

  • press/index.tsx — the Press Tree composition and the document's config. <Press> props declare title / page / sources; children declare the page tree. See <Press>.
  • press/chapters/**/*.mdx — prose, broken into chapters. Each chapter is one MDX file inside a folder; subfolders become document sections.
  • press/components/**/*.tsx — workspace-local React components (custom blocks, special figures, scoped tables).
  • press/theme/ — CSS tokens, page surfaces, type scale, optional pattern utilities. See Themes.
  • press/media/ — images, vector assets. Synced into the public bundle on export.
  • package.json — the "openpress.deploy" field is where build-time deploy adapter settings live. See Workspace config.
Minimum press/index.tsx
import { Workspace, Press, Frame, mdxSource } from "@open-press/core";
import { Sections, Toc } from "@open-press/core/manuscript";

export default function Project() {
  return (
    <Workspace>
      <Press
        title="My document"
        page="a4"
        sources={[
          mdxSource({ id: "story", preset: "section-folders", root: "chapters" }),
        ]}
      >
        <Frame frameKey="cover" role="document.cover">
          <h1>My document</h1>
          {/* subtitle / organization / author all live in JSX */}
        </Frame>
        <Toc source="story" maxLevel={2} />
        <Sections source="story" />
      </Press>
    </Workspace>
  );
}

3. Live preview

Start the workbench
npm run dev
# → http://127.0.0.1:5173/workspace

The workbench reloads CSS, tokens, and React chrome on save. MDX content updates flow through the engine's source watcher. The /workspace route opens the project gallery, and each document opens at /<press-slug>/preview with the workbench shell (inspector, source-edit endpoint, comment markers).

4. Build + verify

Production build
npm run build         # validates + renders dist-react/
npm run preview       # serve dist-react/ as a static site
npm run openpress:pdf # optional: generate PDF locally

build chains structural validation, MDX → React export, and Vite production build. If validation fails the build aborts before Vite runs, so a green build means the document shape is consistent. See CLI · Lifecycle for what each step does.

5. Deploy

OpenPress requires explicit confirmation for any deploy — there is no silent publish. Configure the adapter under the "openpress.deploy" field in the workspace package.json, then:

Deploy to Cloudflare Pages
npm run openpress:deploy:dry-run        # preview the steps
npm run openpress:deploy -- --confirm   # publish

The deploy command builds, generates a PDF stage artifact, writes deploy.json metadata, and hands off to the adapter. Today only cloudflare-pages is marked Impl; static-dir is documented as a Plan adapter in CLI · Output targets.

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